CANGIANTE - A FABRIC AND A COLORISTIC DEVICE IN THE ART OF THE RENAISSANCE

Changeable, shot, or cangiante (iridescent) fabrics are fashionable te xtile materials typically made of silk or lustrous man-made filament y arns with the warp and filling dyed in contrasting colors. At differen t angles of viewing, one or the other color predominates, giving rise to the changeable aspect. Since the beginning of the Italian renaissan ce, such fabrics have been painted by many artists, particularly the F lorentines. Such depictions soon were used as representations of the s upernatural, with increasing artificiality. They culminated in the fre scos of Michelangelo on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, giving rise to the definition of a mode of painting in the Italian Renaissance ca lled cangiantismo. (C) 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.